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Saturday, June 11, 2016

Galuska

These doughy pillows of goodness are called Galuska, and they're little Hungarian dumplings. I think they're almost (if not exactly) the same thing as spaetzel, although the spaetzel I've had were smaller than these galuska. They're an essential component in my family's version of Chicken Paprikash, but I could eat a bowl of them just by themselves!To me, they're almost like big, buttery hunks of pasta (which is just as phenomenal as it sounds). They're definitely firmer than all other dumplings I've had. The dough recipe is simple and although the method of hand-making them by taking a spoon to the dough seems like it would be time consuming, it really only takes about 5 minutes! Does anyone have suggestions for other dishes I can use galuska in? I've only had them in Paprikash! Maybe they could be used in place of gnocchi in Italian dishes. I get the feeling they would be incredible in a dessert dish, like a bread-pudding-type thing but with galuska instead of bread? I'd love to hear your suggestions! And I'll so some experimenting and report back. :)

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Galuska

by Saucy Jocey's Kitchen June-8-2016

These Hungarian dumplings are buttery, doughy pillows of goodness.

Ingredients

1 egg

2 Tbsp unsalted butter, divided

1/3 cup water

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups flour

Instructions

1. Use a fork to mix water, egg, salt, and 1 Tbsp softened butter in a bowl.2. Mix in flour with the fork until a rough dough ball forms, then use your hands to continue mixing and kneading until a smooth dough ball forms and there aren’t any dry flour pieces left.3. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes. In the meantime, boil a large pot of water. Salt the water if you’d like (I usually do).4. Hold the ball of dough in one hand and a spoon in the other. Use the spoon to scrape a football-shaped chunk of the dough away against the base of your hand and repeat until the entire ball of dough is chunked. Each chunk should be about a tsp in size, but don’t worry if the sizes aren’t 100% uniform. Separate the chunked galuska on a plate as you go.5. Add 1/3 of the batch of galuska to the pot of boiling water. Stir a little if they’re sticking together. Boil the galuska until they float, about 3 minutes. Remove the galuska from the water with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl with 1 Tbsp of butter and stir. The other galuska will be added to the same bowl (but you won’t add more butter after each addition). Repeat step 5 until the whole batch is cooked. Enjoy!

Note: Recipe adapted from "Egg Dumplings" in George Lang's "The Cuisine of Hungary"

Step 1: Use a fork to mix water, egg, salt, and 1 Tbsp softened butter
in a bowl.

Step 1 continued

Step 2: Mix in flour with the fork. It will be pretty rough at first...

Step 2 continued: When it's a rough dough ball like this, use your hands to continue mixing and kneading together...

Step 2 continued: Mix and knead until you have a smooth(ish) dough ball with no dry flour pieces.

Step 3: Let the dough rest for 10 minutes. In the meantime, boil a large pot of water.
Salt the water if you’d like (I usually do).

Step 4: Now to form the galuska. Hold the ball of dough in one hand and a spoon in the
other. Use the spoon to scrape a football-shaped chunk of the dough away
against the base of your hand and repeat until the entire ball of dough is
chunked.

Step 4 continued: Each chunk should be about a tsp in size, but don’t worry if the sizes aren’t 100% uniform.

Step 4 continued: Separate
the chunked galuska on a plate as you go.

Step 5: Add 1/3 of the batch of galuska to the pot of
boiling water. I like to add the galuska with a slotted spoon so I can delicately add them without getting splashed!

Step 5 continued: Stir
a little if they’re sticking together.

Step 5 continued: Boil
the galuska until they float, about 3 minutes.

Step 5 continued: Remove
the galuska from the water with a slotted spoon...

Step 5 continued: Place the galuska in a bowl with 1 Tbsp of butter and stir. The other galuska will be added to
the same bowl (but you won’t add more butter after each addition). Repeat step
5 until the whole batch is cooked.

I love how rustic and simple these are. They're a wonderful blank canvas to slather saucy goodness all over! Because they're on the firmer side, they hold their shape and give nice texture to Chicken Paprikash, all while adding a rich buttery flavor. Enjoy!

So fun! My grandma taught me how to make these by sliding each piece directly into the boiling water using a knife on a cutting board. Place the dough on the cutting board and bring it down to drop right into the pot- dipping the knife in the water as you go so things don’t get too sticky!

Iread the recipes and comments and disagree, sry ... In Hungarian cooking we use butter only in dough that will be baked. Way back, when cooking was supposed to be a soon to be wife's strong suit, this dough and the final product was used to measure, how good of a cook she will be. It had to be tender and jiggly after draining in the bowl. I make it by eyeballing the ingredients as I make it a few times a month. Besides paprikas, the correct spelling, since the letter "S" is pronounced like the English "SH", it can be used in any saucy dish, that uses sour cream to thicken the sauce. We always boil them in plain water and not in the sauce itself, to complement the msin dish, this being the side dish. As for a sweet version, not so much is used where I come from. Other doughs, boiled in water can be made a sweet main dish, not really a dessert.

My mom used to make these all the time. Her dough was slightly softer and we scooped it from the bowl with a flat metal spatula and “cut” them off the end of the spatula into either salted boiling water or a stock depending on what you were serving it with. Leftovers we would use the next morning cutting the bigger chunks up and frying them to serve with eggs. I’ve made these for my kids and they loved them.

My mom used to make these all the time. Her dough was slightly softer and we scooped it from the bowl with a flat metal spatula and “cut” them off the end of the spatula into either salted boiling water or a stock depending on what you were serving it with. Leftovers we would use the next morning cutting the bigger chunks up and frying them to serve with eggs. I’ve made these for my kids and they loved them.

Hello! My name is Jocelyn and I have a passion for cooking and eating and feeding people! Each recipe I share is broken down into simple pieces with step-by-step pictures to make cooking easy whether you’re cooking for yourself, cooking for your family, or entertaining. I hope you enjoy!